Learning, planning, and representing knowledge at multiple levels of temporal abstraction are key, longstanding challenges for AI. In this paper we consider how these challenges can be addressed within the mathematical framework of reinforcement learning and Markov decision processes (MDPs). We extend the usual notion of action in this framework to include options---closed-loop policies for taking action over a period of time. Examples of options include picking up an object, going to lunch, and traveling to a distant city, as well as primitive actions such as muscle twitches and joint torques. Overall, we show that options enable temporally abstract knowledge and action to be included in the reinforcement learning framework in a natural and general way. In particular, we show that options may be used interchangeably with primitive actions in planning methods such as dynamic programming and in learning methods such as Q-learning.

A preliminary unedited version of this paper was incorrectly published as part of Volume

RoboCup simulated soccer presents many challenges to reinforcement learning methods, including a large state space, hidden and uncertain state, multiple agents, and long and variable delays in the eects of actions. We describe our application of episodic SMDP Sarsa() with linear tile-coding function approximation and variable to learning higherlevel decisions in a keepaway subtask of RoboCup soccer. In keepaway, one team, \the keepers," tries to keep control of the ball for as long as possible despite the eorts of \the takers." The keepers learn individually when to hold the ball and when to pass to a teammate, while the takers learn when to charge the ball-holder and when to cover possible passing lanes. Our agents learned policies that signi cantly out-performed a range of benchmark policies. We demonstrate the generality of our approach by applying it to a number of task variations including dierent eld sizes and dierent numbers of players on each team.

1 RoboCup simulated soccer presents many challenges to reinforcement learning methods, in-cluding a large state space, hidden and uncertain state, multiple independent agents learning simultaneously, and long and variable delays in the effects of actions. We describe our appli-cation of episodic SMDP Sarsa(λ) with linear tile-coding function approximation and variable λ to learning higher-level decisions in a keepaway subtask of RoboCup soccer. In keepaway, one team, “the keepers, ” tries to keep control of the ball for as long as possible despite the efforts of “the takers. ” The keepers learn individually when to hold the ball and when to pass to a teammate. Our agents learned policies that significantly outperform a range of benchmark policies. We demonstrate the generality of our approach by applying it to a number of task variations including different field sizes and different numbers of players on each team.

Learning, planning, and representing knowledge at multiple levels of temporal abstraction are key challenges for AI. In this paper we develop an approach to these problems based on the mathematical framework of reinforcement learning and Markov decision processes (MDPs). We extend the usual notion of action to include options—whole courses of behavior that may be temporally extended, stochastic, and contingent on events. Examples of options include picking up an object, going to lunch, and traveling to a distant city, as well as primitive actions such as muscle twitches and joint torques. Options may be given a priori, learned by experience, or both. They may be used interchangeably with actions in a variety of planning and learning methods. The theory of semi-Markov decision processes (SMDPs) can be applied to model the consequences of options and as a basis for planning and learning methods using them. In this paper we develop these connections, building on prior work by Bradtke and Duff (1995), Parr (in prep.) and others. Our main novel results concern the interface between the MDP and SMDP levels of analysis. We show how a set of options can be altered by changing only their termination conditions

We consider policy evaluation algorithms within the context of infinite-horizon dynamic programming problems with discounted cost. We focus on discrete-time dynamic systems with a large number of states, and we discuss two methods, which use simulation, temporal differences, and linear cost function approximation. The first method is a new gradient-like algorithm involving least-squares subproblems and a diminishing stepsize, which is based on the #-policy iteration method of Bertsekas and Ioffe. The second method is the LSTD(#) algorithm recently proposed by Boyan, which for # =0coincides with the linear least-squares temporal-difference algorithm of Bradtke and Barto. At present, there is only a convergence result by Bradtke and Barto for the LSTD(0) algorithm. Here, we strengthen this result by showing the convergence of LSTD(#), with probability 1, for every # [0, 1].

Partially observable Markov decision processes (POMDPs) provide a natural and principled framework to model a wide range of sequential decision making problems under uncertainty. To date, the use of POMDPs in real-world problems has been limited by the poor scalability of existing solution algorithms, which can only solve problems with up to ten thousand states. In fact, the complexity of finding an optimal policy for a finite-horizon discrete POMDP is PSPACE-complete. In practice, two important sources of intractability plague most solution algorithms: large policy spaces and large state spaces. On the other hand,

Abstract not found

Abstract. RoboCup simulated soccer presents many challenges to machine learning (ML) methods, including a large state space, hidden and uncertain state, multiple agents, and long and variable delays in the effects of actions. While there have been many successful ML applications to portions of the robotic soccer task, it appears to be still beyond the capabilities of modern machine learning techniques to enable a team of 11 agents to successfully learn the full robotic soccer task from sensors to actuators. Because the successful applications to portions of the task have been embedded in different teams and have often addressed different subtasks, they have been difficult to compare. We put forth keepaway soccer as a domain suitable for directly comparing different machine learning approaches to robotic soccer. It is complex enough that it can’t be solved trivially, yet simple enough that complete machine learning approaches are feasible. In keepaway, one team, “the keepers, ” tries to keep control of the ball for as long as possible despite the efforts of “the takers. ” The keepers learn individually when to hold the ball and when to pass to a teammate, while the takers learn when to charge the ball-holder and when to cover possible passing lanes. We fully specify the domain and summarize some initial, successful learning results. 1

Abstract not found